It’s the email you never want to receive, especially if you’ve got a clean selling history: your Amazon product has been suspended. Now what? RepricerExpress has discovered five common reasons why this can happen and how you can avoid it.
1. Your Product is Unsafe
The biggest reason you could be facing a product suspension from Amazon is if your product isn’t safe to use. This covers a wide range of things, from simple defects to unexpected byproducts that can/do cause injury from use.
How to avoid: Product testing is the easiest way to ensure what you’re selling is safe and okay. By handling the product in a variety of ways, you can anticipate how your buyers will also use it and what scenarios might crop up. If consumers need to know about a potential effect, be sure to spell that out clearly and directly. And above all, be as honest as possible in describing the condition of the product.
2. You Said Your Product is New But It’s Actually Used
Not only is this a huge hassle to buyers (who actually enjoys going through the return process?), but like the above point, an inaccurately-represented product might result in it breaking or injuring the buyer.
How to avoid: It’s simple. If you sell used items, label them as such and use the description area to write about the condition they’re in in greater detail. Alternatively, you can stick to only selling new items and being explicit in that when talking to Amazon.
3. You Have Too Many Negative Reviews
Sometimes buyers who aren’t happy with their products claim it was “not as described” and attempt to return the item. When that happens, Amazon might start an FBA suspension while they conduct a bin check to see if there any mismatches between what you listed and what’s in the warehouse.
How to avoid: There are a number of strategies you can employ. One, temporarily switch to FBM so you can keep selling and not run out of stock. Two, open up your own ticket for the item and use the space to write about why items might be returned and the steps you’ve taken in product listings to combat that. And three, get on top of negative reviews immediately to try and resolve the issue with the buyer before it grows any bigger.
4. Your Return Rate is Too High
One of the metrics Amazon uses to gauge your performance is your return rate (how many items are returned over the total number of items sold) in a given time. If one of your products has a consistently high return rate, that could raise Amazon’s suspicions and your item could be suspended — for good.
How to avoid: One of your best defences is a strong offence. Use your product listing to describe the item as clearly as possible, such as how to use it and how not to use it. If a buyer managed to miss the point, follow up with them as soon as you can to ensure there’s no more confusion.
5. There’s An Issue With Intellectual Property
Intellectual property (I.P.) is a tough hurdle for smaller sellers, as they don’t have the financial and legal backing to get them out of tight spots. Amazon has recently pulled in the reins on this one, whereas before, I.P. holders would have had to work on their own to prove their I.P. had been stolen. Now, all they have to do is file a report with Amazon and the marketplace suspends the product immediately while the two sellers work it out by themselves.
How to avoid: Although it takes more time in the short run, creating your own brand and logo can save you a lot of time and stress later on. If that’s not something that fits your business model, then make sure you thoroughly research I.P. before using it. You might even want to consult with a legal expert just to be on the super safe side.
Still manually repricing on Amazon?
Just about every single time, an unresolved product suspension (or a history of product suspensions) can lead to an account suspension. We know you’re a rockstar seller who wants to do their best and will take every step in doing so. Another way you can keep rising to the top is to use RepricerExpress to compete with the sellers you plan on overtaking. By setting your own pricing rules and exceptions, you can always have competitive prices in all the categories you sell in. Sign up now and receive the first 15 days entirely free.
Related: What to Do If Your Amazon Account Gets Suspended
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